Posen loses a jewel in Tuesday’s fire
POSEN, Mich. — Right now, workers at Jewell’s Disposal Service are working to piece things back together. The company caught fire early Tuesday morning, but the owner says her business isn’t burning down with the flames.
Cell phone video captured the moment smokes and flames rip through a Posen business. Firefighters say they were having difficulty. The smoke traces back to the Jewell’s Disposal Service garage, where a trash truck first caught fire.
“[The company] used oil to heat their shop,” says Long Rapids firefighter William MacArthur. He says, there were “barrels and barrels of oil in there” fueling the fire.
“Everything that they used was pretty much just another thing to burn up and make it burn hotter and bigger,” says MacArthur.
Governor Gretchen Whitmer declared a State of Emergency because of extreme cold temperatures that has spread across the Midwest. “Right now, we got pumps freezing up on our engines,” says MacArthur. Firefighters had to go back and forth to nearby ponds to keep up their water supply.
“Seeing first the post online that there was a fire six miles from my house this morning was disheartening, and to find out that it was there was even worse,” says local resident Lacey Parks. She says Jewell’s is a staple in her small town.
“It’s been a business that has been out in Posen, a very successful business that is owed by some amazing people,” says Parks. Amazing people like the company’s owner, Leigh Ann Jewell, who was too distraught to face our camera, but did speak with us.
“Thanks again to all the local fire departments, and everyone who showed up to help, we appreciate everything and we’ll rebuild,” says Jewell. The owner says services will continue running at Jewell’s because they’re the type of company that is not disposable.
Firefighters are still investigating the scene. Nobody was hurt and everyone is safe.
